Chapter 1 - The Girl at the DoorThe double doors burst open beneath the illuminated EXIT sign.
Sophie Carter ran into the private dining room, her cream dress marked with faint red stains and one shallow scratch across her cheek. Two men in dark suits appeared behind her, but stopped when she reached the head of the table.
Vincent Hale lowered his crystal glass before it touched his lips.
Sophie grabbed his sleeve with both hands.
“Please… don’t let him take me back.”
Every conversation stopped.
“Who did this to you?” Vincent asked.
She leaned close and whispered a name no one else could hear.
Vincent’s face hardened.
“He’s still inside,” Sophie said.
Vincent placed his glass firmly on the table and rose. The three bodyguards behind him straightened only when he lifted one hand.
“Lock every door. No one leaves.”
The pursuing men tried to retreat, but the bodyguards blocked the entrance without touching them.
Vincent bent to Sophie’s height.
“Where is your mother?”
Sophie pointed toward the floor.
“In the room under the kitchen.”
Several dinner guests exchanged uneasy looks.
One man near the opposite end quietly removed his napkin and reached for his phone.
Vincent saw him.
“Put it down, Senator.”
The phone returned to the table.
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Vincent understood that Sophie had not escaped from a stranger.
She had escaped from something the men at his dinner had paid to keep hidden.
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